New York workers find bodies of firemen

Workers at the World Trade Centre site in New York have removed several bodies found in what was the lobby of one of the towers, officials revealed yesterday.

Demolition teams came across 13 corpses in a six-hour period on New Year's Day in a small pocket that had not been crushed. None have been officially identified, but ten of the bodies were New York City firemen.

As mechanical diggers and cranes continue to remove the rubble from Ground Zero, officials say they expect to find similar areas in the coming days. All may contain bodies.

It has long been known large numbers of people were trapped in the lobby areas. Because of the extraordinary impact of the collapse, they were driven 30 feet underground. Steel girders and concrete kept open a few small areas.

Fire chiefs reported many officers who should have evacuated the buildings refused to do so while there were members of the public inside. "A lot of firefighters just would not leave that area while people were still trying to get out," said Tom Da Parma of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.

It is estimated 130 of the 343 firefighters missing in the rubble have now been identified.